Maersk consolidates Mideast-East Africa

Friday, July 13, 2012

The ocean carrier Maersk Line has consolidated its Middle East-to-East Africa services by terminating its Dar Express service while simultaneously extending its Masiika Express loop to include a call at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Maersk has suspended its dedicated weekly Dar Express service between Salalah, Oman and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The Dar Express had been operating with four Maersk vessels with an average capacity of 1,898 TEUs and a port rotation of Salalah, Dar es Salaam, and Salalah.
To ensure port coverage, Maersk has meanwhile added a call at Dar es Salaam to its other weekly Middle East-to East-Africa service, the Masiika Express, along with a sixth vessel, increasing roundtrip voyage time on the loop from 35 days to 42 days.
Transit times on the Masiika Express loop have increased by about seven days southbound from the Middle East to East Africa, now taking 22 days from Maersk’s major Middle East hub in Salalah, Oman to Mombasa, Kenya. The revised rotation of the six-ship average 2,538-TEUs Masiika Express is Sharjah, Dubai, Salalah, Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Salalah and Sharjah.
Maersk only offers one other service with a direct call at Dar es Salaam, its dedicated Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas-Mombasa and Dar es Salaam service, the Mashariki Express, which the carrier recently slowed as well (reported by American Shipper July 9). - ComPair Data, Ben Meyer